


Sweet gingerbread made with molasses

by natashamonaghan



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Miracles, Everybody Lives, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:22:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashamonaghan/pseuds/natashamonaghan
Summary: This is their first Christmas since defeating Thanos.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Sweet gingerbread made with molasses

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! this is Natasha (obviously) and I'm not a native speaker (obviously2), but I wanted to make some miracles and happiness! please enjoy! I wish you all a very happy Christmas
> 
> *"dorogoy" is "darling" in Russian  
> "horoshaya moya" is "my precious" in Russian

There is a silver band in Bucky’s hair that is secured behind his ears by bobby pins. The band is completely covered with thin, shiny spruce branches, bunches and cranberry leaves, and even small, barely noticeable fir cones. Bucky stands by the mirror, adjusting it now and then until he nods to himself with a smile.

“Stevie, are you ready?” Bucky touches the already perfect collar of his dark green, almost black silk shirt and finally steps away from the mirror. He finds Steve in their bedroom, pulling on black jeans. He is already wearing a red knit sweater with countless gold stars.

“Itchy” Steve whimpers and scratches his stomach.

“You’re not five years old, you’ll bear it,” Bucky says, examining him closely.

Rogers looks amazing, but that's not enough - he always looks amazing, even when he's covered in dust and dirt from head to toe. Bucky bows his head a little, hair falling over his shoulder, Steve stands absurdly in front of him in black and, in his opinion, too-tight jeans, high lace-up boots, and a spiky sweater. Bucky looks him up and down, and his face lights up.

“Stay here, I'll be right back!” Rogers smiles distractedly as he watches Bucky off to the living room, and only now he notices that Bucky's back is scattered with the same golden stars as on his own sweater. Steve straightens his surprisingly comfortable jeans, checks the lacing, looks back at himself in the mirror, and stares at the reflection for a few seconds. If not for the spiky stars on his sweater, it would be great.

“Let's go to the bathroom”. Bucky tugs at his hand, Steve manages to kiss him in the temple, and he is immediately placed in front of the mirror. Bucky is holding two of those endless jars of glitter Barnes had collected at the “Crafts”. Every surface in their house glitters in one way or another, Steve finds glitter even in the freezer. Bucky reaches over to the cupboards and pulls out hair gel. Steve had forgotten he was there.

“Bucky,” Rogers pulls, but a soft, warm kiss shuts him down, “Okay”.

Steve smiles blissfully as he stares at Bucky: the wreath on his head is a work of art and Bucky never said where he got it from; the shirt fits him amazingly: he tucked it into the same black jeans, but they have shiny gold stripes at the seams, and the buckle on his belt is in the shape of a Christmas wreath. Bucky did his eyes with a gold - again - eyeliner, the upper eyelid shines, the lower one in the outer corner is red - also shiny, and on his lips - Steve feels - sugar balm. Bucky brushes his regrown hair back with his fingers, and Steve can feel him spreading the gel in a long line from temple to nape, first on the right and then on the left.

“Stark will go blind tonight, '' Bucky pulls contentedly, and Steve snorts.

“They won't forgive you”, Steve laughs. 

Bucky chuckles and raises an eyebrow; Steve breaks down and kisses him quickly on the lips. This is their first Christmas together after what they went through, and if Bucky wants to blind Stark today, then Steve is powerless - he can't do anything about Bucky's wishes.

“Stay still,” Bucky says, and immediately runs his tongue over Steve’s cheekbone. Rogers takes a deep breath and focuses his attention on the wall behind Bucky.

“We'll be late, Buck”.

“We should be late, kid”.

Steve knows this - Bucky loves to show off, especially at Tony Stark's Christmas party. When he's late it means all the attention is focused on him, and Bucky loves it. Today he looks like the embodiment of sin and miracles, although Steve has no idea how this is possible, but here is Bucky, which means it is really possible. Bucky grabs Steve's chin with his right hand, turns his head to the right and left, then he throws in some more red sparkles and he is satisfied.

“Look”, Bucky smiles.. 

Rogers turns to the mirror, bows his head, and smiles from ear to ear: Bucky drew two vertical lines of gel on his head, and then poured red and gold glitter on top of each. It looks like Steve has little golden wings on his head. Bucky runs his tongue over his lips and then kisses him behind his ear and Steve flinches. Barnes takes some gold glitter and sprinkles it over the kiss. Steve laughs, his head thrown back, and Bucky kisses his so comfortable placed neck with a smile.

“We'll be late. Very late,” Rogers manages to say, and Bucky pulls away.

“We can’t be very late”. 

Steve slips his hands into the back pockets of Bucky's jeans, pulls him close, and smiles as he looks down at him slightly. “You look magical, Buck,” he kisses his nose, squeezes his palms slightly, Bucky exhales loudly.

“It's Christmas, Steve,” Bucky puts his hands around Steve's waist and pushes him away from him. “Let's go, the taxi has been waiting for twenty minutes.

“Bucky,” Rogers groans and pulls them both to the first floor. “Did you even warn the driver that we would be late?”

“Maybe,” Barnes says.

Steve hands Bucky his coat, quickly pulls the scarf around his neck. Bucky scrutinizes the cuffs of his coat and nods to Steve. “Come on”.

Rogers stares for a moment, of course, he stares. Bucky looks amazing - okay, he always looks amazing, even with his hair dirty with dust and blood, but now he looks especially amazing: this rim, and skinny jeans, and high boots, and black coat, and with gold and red eyeliner… He looks like a twenty-year-old student of some particularly fancy college - Steve can't take his eyes off him. Bucky raises his right eyebrow, the corner of his lips, and Steve remembers. “Yes, taxi, we're late, let's go”.

Bucky laughs - Rogers is surprisingly easy to distract. 

❄❄❄

It's snowing in Stark tower.

It is in the tower itself: in the lobby, in elevators, in corridors, in latrines, snow is falling everywhere. Bucky laughs delightedly as Steve stares at the ceiling like a fool with his mouth open.

“He’s completely crazy,” Bucky says.

“Exactly”.

Steve looks at Bucky. In the artificial light of the tower, his eyes shine, even more, his shirt shines with a heavy but soft shine, even the bionics shines softly. His hair falls over his shoulders, the heavy curls don't last long in the elastic waves Bucky intended them to be - straightening under their own weight, but Steve likes it even more. He pulls a strand away from Bucky's face, puts a hand on his neck, and pulls him towards himself. Bucky's lips are really sweet, Steve knows this balm because he bought it himself.

“Doves”!

Rogers laughs as Bucky pulls away from him with a low, displeased growl and turns around. Tony is dressed in a Santa suit and Rogers buries his forehead on Bucky's shoulder.

“My Lord…”

“Don't like something”? Tony turns around and pulls his left hand to the side. “By the way, boys, custom made”!

"You look very... like Santa," Bucky says, laughing, to which Stark snorts in displeasure.

“And you are very shiny! Have fun boys, everything is for you”!

Tony turns and walks away with his left arm raised. The right one is still in the bandage and pressed tightly to his body. Despite the fact that Stark has access to the best doctors and technology - he himself is the best technology, what the Stones did with his hand and face is almost indestructible. The right side of the face is red, brightly scarred, and the right hand is unlikely to ever function as it should, but Tony absolutely and sincerely doesn't care. People love him not for his face, he can work with his left hand too - he is ambidextrous, so Tony has absolutely nothing to lose. Stark is alive and it is all that matters. Steve hugs Bucky and pulls him close to him, puts his hand on his thigh, and kisses him on the temple.

“Let's drink”?

Bucky nods and they walk towards the bar. James turns his head like a child and examines every inch of the huge space that is used as a press conference room every other day of the year. The windows are covered with green curtains, Christmas balls hang from the ceiling, garlands cover every free centimeter of the ceiling and walls, except for the one that is used as a huge screen and now there is a selection of Christmas cartoons, but without sound.

“Morgan is here!” Bucky says enthusiastically.

“Yeah, for sure,” Rogers laughs and nods to bartender-Peter Parker-Spider-Man for an iced martini.

Bucky lowers his elbows onto the counter and arches one eyebrow, to which poor Peter immediately blushes and turns away. Bucky laughs out loud, Steve shakes his head reproachfully but smiles. This is the first Christmas since defeating Thanos, so Steve can forgive Bucky for a little bit of insolence and taking advantage of his position. Peter Parker has a soft spot for Bucky, although Bucky thinks Peter Parker has a soft spot for all superheroes, although only one has a soft spot for Peter.

“How are you and Stark, spider-baby?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Barnes,” Parker mutters, but his cheekbones are reddened.

“Bucky…” Steve pulls with a smile.

“Okay, I'll ask him, otherwise”...

“Mister Barnes!” Peter lowers his palms loudly onto the bar and Bucky feigns fright - holds out his hands' open palms forward and widens his eyes.

“What are you, kid, I was joking”!

“I’ll give Morgan the glue-backed stickers based on my web and she’ll make a work of art out of your hand!”

Steve laughs, his face in his hands, Bucky sighs sadly and drinks a martini out of his glass.

“Are you embarrassing my baby again, Barnes?”

Bucky smiles delightedly and turns around. Natasha looks amazing: mistletoe is woven into a red braid, a dark green dress hugs her body so that Bucky admires how she can even breathe in it. Natasha opens her arms, Bucky falls into her hug and lifts Romanova off the floor. Natasha laughs, kisses James on the cheek, and he lowers her to the floor.

“You know you'll be coughing up those glitter until next Christmas, dorogoy*?

“I hope so, horoshaya moya*. Steve, we’ll have a chat”.

Steve nods with a smile, and Bucky and Natasha leave. After they returned Natasha from Vormir, she became... withdrawn, and only with James she again becomes the Romanova that all the Avengers knew. Natasha and Bucky talk exclusively in Russian when they are together, and Steve finds this surprisingly soothing, while Stark is furious, but does not try to ask Friday to turn on simultaneous translation for him. Steve drinks a martini and watches as the conference room grows cramped by the minute as he greets Clint and his family, Bruce, Scott, and Hope. Seeing Doctor Strange in a fitted black suit is very strange, as is T'Challa without black sharp ears. Steve bites his lip, hides a happy smile behind his hand, and turns to Peter.

“He talks about you very often, you know”.

“Mr. Rogers!”

Steve laughs, Peter, despite his red cheeks, smiles too. Bucky comes back twenty minutes later, hugs Steve from the back, rests his chin on his shoulder, kisses him on the cheekbone.

“She is alright?”

“She’ll be”.

Bucky buries his nose in Steve's neck, inhales deeply, and Rogers closes his eyes and smiles. Tony returns to the room, it becomes clear when the whole room is drowned in a modern version of "Feliz Navidad" with strong female vocals. Bucky pushes Steve in the back, however, does not let go of him, and they both walk towards the huge tree, in front of which Tony and Morgan are sitting. The baby is dressed in a luxurious red dress with a green bow, her hair is braided in neat braids - clearly Natasha's work.

“Uncle Bucky”!

The girl immediately jumps into Barnes' arms, he picks her up and lifts her above him. Morgan squeals with delight, Bucky laughs and tosses her over his head. Stark looks at all this with displeasure, as it seems to him, but Steve sees a smile at the corners of his lips and sparkling eyes.

Steve swallows a lump in his throat as Natasha and Clint walk up to him and Tony. Romanova puts a small hand on Steve's shoulder, he bows his head to touch it with his cheek.

“If I only knew…”

Tony chuckles, Clint nods in agreement, Natasha kisses Rogers on the cheek. Bucky throws Morgan into the air once more and laughs loudly and happily.

❄❄❄

On the morning of the twenty-fifth, Steve walks down to the kitchen smelling of gingerbread cookies and mint tea. Bucky is in red candy cane pajamas, his hair tied in a loose bun and a few strands brushing his cheeks. Steve handles his breathless tenderness as he walks over to the smiling Bucky.

“Good morning”, Bucky takes another batch of cookies from the oven, sends them to cool on the stone counter, and finally turns his attention to Steve. Rogers hugged him from the back, pressed his whole body pleasantly and heavily, grasping his chest and waist in a death grip. 

“Good morning”, Steve kisses him, leaves countless tiny kisses on the back of his head, behind the ears, on the upper vertebrae, on the shoulders and neck. Bucky tickles, laughs shortly, turns in his arms, and places his palms on Steve's face. 

“What are the plans for the holidays?” Bucky asks. 

“I love you so much, Bucky,” Rogers mutters, now kissing Bucky’s cheeks, nose, eyelids, and forehead. “I love you so much…”

Bucky smiles, relaxes in his arms, and lets himself be pulled onto the couch in the living room. Steve is soft, warm, and strong. Bucky puts his arm around his neck with one arm, pulls him closer, and freezes for a few seconds. Steve breathes loudly into his neck, kisses him every few seconds, and runs his palms over his waist and chest.

“I love you too, little thing. So what are we going to do, huh?”

Steve lets out a shaky breath, presses his lips to his cheekbone, and stays there for a few long, warm seconds. “Anything that you want”.

Bucky chuckles contentedly, smiles, and lifts Steve's head by the chin. Rogers is completely floating, out of focus, Bucky laughs shortly, kisses him on the nose, and flips them on the couch in one motion. Steve gasps in surprise - sometimes he forgets how strong Bucky is - but relaxes as soon as he feels the bionics touch his lower abdomen.

“Sweet,” Bucky breathes.

Steve arches back and leans up, letting Bucky pull his pants off. Barnes runs his nose down his cock, tongue touches the head and Steve hisses through his teeth.

“How sweet you are”...

Steve narrows his eyes, lifts his hips with every move of Bucky's mouth, and clings to the sofa cushions. Barnes keeps his hands on his hips, pressing him lightly against the couch, and takes him almost to his throat. Steve cannot be blamed for being intemperate.

❄❄❄

Bucky laughs enthusiastically, Steve looks confusedly at him, then at the snow-white cat and smiles in confusion.

“Bucky, what”... Steve only went out for meat and vegetables, he was away for about forty minutes.

“This is Alpine, and now he lives with us. You're okay with it”?

Alpine sits on the table, gracefully licking his front paw, a fluffy garland hanging around his neck.

“Yes, but... “ Steve squats in front of the cat runs his hand from his head to the tail, the cat immediately begins to rumble loudly. “Where is he from”?

Bucky says he decided to do a Christmas miracle, and he saw an ad from a cat shelter asking for help. Bucky took the cat and may have transferred a lot more money than they dreamed of.

“You did it while I was gone?”

“I don’t like to wait, and I don’t like to think long,” Bucky smiles and shrugs.

Steve suddenly burst with loud, happy, and bright laughter. Bucky thinks that all the hundreds of meters of garlands they used to decorate the house never shone as brightly as Steve does now.

“You… God, Bucky”

Rogers picks the cat up, sits down next to Bucky on the couch, and kisses him. Bucky smiles contentedly, squints and snorts.

Seventy years in the ice, two wars, five years of terrible mourning, the constant feeling of loss and fear were worth it for the happy Bucky taking the cats from the shelter, baking cookies, and wearing plush pajama pants.

Steve has been completely stupid and enthusiastic about loving him for more than a century and is ready to love him as much, and more. Steve is ready to love Bucky even if he again needs to die on the ice, go through two wars for it; even if it requires kneeling down and praying for forgiveness. There is nothing that Steve would refuse to do for him.

Steve will always love Bucky.


End file.
